People's Republic of the Congo

The People's Republic of the Congo was a socialist state that ruled over the present-day Republic of the Congo from 1970 to 1992. Ruled by the Congolese Party of Labor, it was ruled by military officers from the north of the country and came to an end in 1992 after unrest following the fall of the Soviet Union. Its last leader Denis Sassou-Nguesso would seize power during the Republic of the Congo Civil War in 1997 and resume his rule. In 1988, the country had a population of 2,153,685 people, including 8,500 Europeans, and the literacy rate was 80%.

History
The People's Republic of the Congo was proclaimed in 1970 following a coup by Marien Ngouabi and militant leftists, and the state was ruled by military officers mostly from the scarcely-populated northern region of the country. The republic had communist policies such as nationalizing means of production, and the Congolese Party of Labor was the sole legal party; however, in 1977 Ngouabi was assassinated, and the Cold War was brought to the country. The Congo was friendly with the Soviet Union and France, and it managed to avoid any coups or civil wars. However, in 1992 the country removed "People's" from the nation's title and changed the flag, and the country was no longer a communist state.